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Chinese millennials nearly doubled travel spending in the past year

Chinese residents born after 1990 are fueling a surge in international travel, with a preference for local experiences, independent accommodations and long-haul destinations.

Researchers of Hotels.com found Chinese millennials spent 80% more on travel between May 2017 and May 2018 than they had in the prior twelve months.

The report is based on interviews of more than 3,000 Chinese residents aged 18 to 58 who had traveled overseas in the past 12 months, along with proprietary data from Hotels.com and other research.

In 2017 across all age groups there were 130 million outbound Chinese travelers, 7% more than the prior year and 85% more than in 2011.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents say “tasting local delicacies” was their favorite activity in the past 12 months, followed by visiting local landmarks (65%) and shopping for authentic local items (43%).

For the survey period, 55% of travelers had stayed in independent hotels, 49% in international hotel chains and 33% at boutique hotels

When asked what makes a great travel experience, 56% of travelers say “living in atypical accommodation.” Hotel amenities also factor into decision making. Wi-Fi ranks as the most important amenity at 60%, followed by on-site dining at 50% and room service at 36%.

Topping the list of things survey respondents would like to see improved is better mobile payment options. Fifty-nine percent would like to be able to pay using a QR scan in WeChat, and 57% want vendors to enable payments via mobile phones.